The Bizarre Books of Ben Denzer
And The Art of Asking What a Book Can Be
Have you ever read a book made out of cheese? What about one made from 6,000 dandelions collected from Mount Auburn Cemetery? How about a book made from 222 two dollar bills?
These are but a few of the books from Catalog Press, the weird and wonderful publishing imprint from artist and designer Ben Denzer.
Catalog Press—and indeed, much of Denzer’s work—originates from one question: “What can a book be?”
“They are both content and object;” Denzer told It’s Nice That in 2019, “simultaneously sculpture and catalog, singular contained multitudes.” The work is funny, unexpected, and—if you buy into this sort of thing —profound. Denzer has made books out of pictures of “accidental vanity plates,” 12,000 skin cells from people with schizophrenia, 77 Lucky 7’s, 20 slices of mortadella, newspaper headlines with the word “die” in them, five ketchup packets, 200 fortune cookie fortunes, and many, many, more.
What’s profound about a book made from 285 sheets of Charmin Ultra Strong Toilet Paper, you ask? Fair question. Maybe nothing. But I think there is something special to the act of binding, and in turn elevating, mundane materials that make up our lives.
These books could easily be dismissed as ridiculous. But I think that, should the viewer move past this initial reaction, Denzer’s work encourages consideration for objects, materials, and images we might not pay close attention to. In short: You might think more, if not differently, about toilet paper and how we interact with it. Seeing a book made from headlines about people dying might encourage you to think about death, news, and our relationship with both. A book made of slices of American cheese makes me think about preservatives and “cheese products” and what we consider food.
I don’t know that Denzer has such lofty ideological ambitions for this project—I think the man just likes playing with materials. But even in a world where fewer people read, books are still special objects. And so turning anything into a book demands a new kind of attention.
I am drawn to projects that ask what a book can be.
Years ago, near the entrance of The Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, there was a hardcover book on display that consisted solely of the word “Jew” six million times. It’s called And Every Single One Was Someone.
I was extremely moved by this object! It was a new way to visualize the sheer magnitude of death in the Holocaust. I also thought about how each three letter word was the reduction of a full and complex life, and how this stripping of human complexity was inherently necessary for those evil actions to ensue.
I have a few project ideas in this vein I hope to one day complete. One such project is a collection of obituaries for people that share my name, as a sort of bookish memento mori.
What do you think about these kinds of projects? Are they gimmicks, or something more? I’d love to hear what you think and if you know of any similar book projects.
What I’m Reading (books)
I just finished Shark Heart by Emily Habeck for my book club with my mom. I loved it!
I am currently reading American Bulk by Emily Mester, one of the books Story Made Project gave me on my episode of Books on the Bed podcast.
What I’m Working On
Boy am I busy. I’ve gotten 4 new covers in the last 9 days and I have a Zoom meeting with a publisher next week about cover design.
I’ve wrapped a few front covers this year that I can’t share yet, but here is the jacket mechanical I designed for We Interrupt This Broadcast by Gregory Orr, a book of poems available for preorder now.
Thanks for Reading!
Thank you for reading! I mean it.
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Until next time,
Nathaniel